Exsomnis
by Eschatona
Summary: Alternate Ending to my FFXV fic 'Night Light" This will make pretty much zero sense if you haven't read and finished Night Light already, unless you have a really brilliant imagination? I definitely recommend reading Night Light first though. The multi-chapter happy ending fic that a lot of /very upset/ people asked me for. I have delivered. Hope you enjoy
1. Frigid

Chapter One: Frigid

"Iggy, I found him!"

Prompto's eyes fluttered open as he heard that familiar voice drifting to his tired ears. It sounded so muffled, as if he were underwater and someone was shouting from above the surface. Maybe he really was underwater? It was so dark, so cold. It reminded him of unpleasant memories, of test chambers filled with a green liquid. Of being submerged, liquid filling his mouth and lungs but not quite drowning him. He felt like he was floating but at the same time his limbs felt as though they were weighed down, made of lead.

Prompto vaguely registered a sudden warmth on his face, making his nose scrunch up uncomfortably as his nerves lit up. Then it was gone and he was left to the cold, the chill of his own body. Why was he so cold, again? Ah, that was right: he'd been stabbed. He was bleeding. Why wasn't he dead then?

A voice spoke his name, the noise a little clearer now. He liked that voice.

He felt himself grow impossibly colder as his fuzzy mind finally comprehended, realised that this was it. He was, in fact, dying. He felt his previously shallow, rhythmic breathing hitch, a sudden surge of adrenaline rushing through him, panic setting in.

He didn't want to die. Not when the face behind that precious voice was so close.

"N-Noct..." his voice was so quiet he didn't hear the words, only felt the vibrations of his own throat. As his body forced itself back into action he was bombarded with a mix of sensations. Cold. A bitter freezing cold, right down to his bones. Before the cold felt like a blanket, swaddling him and slowly draining his energy. Now it felt like a blade trying to saw him in half, painful in its intensity.

The pain... oh, the pain was almost unbearable. The slice in his chest was emanating with the kind of pain that made his gut twist, and he was sure he would've thrown up by now if there was anything in his stomach. It hurt. It hurt so badly, left him thinking perhaps the blissful numbness was preferable after all. If he just let his body shut down again, he was sure...

"Prompto. Look at me, Prom"

That voice. That voice, giving him a reason to hold on. He forced in a ragged, gurgling breath, his lungs burning in protest. His fingers twitched as he heard another noise, a gasp. Not his own. Ignis? Was he here, too?

"The little fucker's alive. Igs, get a potion!" Was that.. Gladio's voice? He registered the new wave of fear the man's presence inspired, but he didn't have the energy to really feel it. There was a commotion, urgent whispers and the fumbling of.. something. He couldn't tell. He didn't know if he really wanted to. He was so tired.

Prompto's mind was a mess. He found himself panicking again -he didn't want to go to sleep without seeing Noctis' face one last time- but his distress didn't quite reach his limp body. It was dark. It had been dark for a long time. He couldn't see. Why? Why was it so dark? He wanted to see Noctis.

"Open your eyes Prom. Come on."

Oh. His eyes were shut? That... that explained the dark. It took a few moments of concentration but he managed to pry his eyes open, only to squeeze them shut again as he was met with a blinding white light. Astrals, that was too much. He hissed in protest and whoever was holding the torch seemed to get the message, as he felt the intensity of it shift away from his face.

Gingerly he opened his eyes again, ignoring how they stung. There were more important things to care about right now. He realised his head was hanging -he didn't have the strength to lift it- but he could make out those familiar black leather boots. Noctis' boots. Suddenly the warmth was back on his face again, and he realised it was a hand. Noctis' hands, one then another, cupping his face and gently lifting his head up. He felt his lips twitch once as he finally, finally met eyes with his smiling Prince. Noctis was here. Noctis was really here, holding him.

He was safe.

Noctis felt his anger flare as he cut down yet another daemon, the imps irritating him beyond belief. He'd been swarmed by them, a group of maybe twenty oozing out of the walls, from the shadows. Even in a group the creatures didn't pose much of a threat but they were still jumpy little buggers. They left him spinning wildly in circles as he tried to land a solid blow, Noctis acutely aware of every second he was waisting dealing with the imps.

With a frustrated cry the Prince threw a fire flask to the ground, warping out of the impact zone and watching with satisfaction as he managed to wipe out all the remaining imps at once. With that annoyance finally dealt with he continued to walk, the sound of his own footsteps echoing back to him in the metal corridor.

Prompto had left them five days ago now. When he hadn't come back the second day they'd immediately started searching for him, struck heavily with guilt and a desperation to save their friend. Nobody was quite sure what welcome would be awaiting Prompto when he returned to Niflheim but they'd been certain it wouldn't be anything nice.

Their search had lead them to a place called Zegnautus Keep, in the heart of Gralea. They'd been close to the Niflheim border when they'd lost Prompto, but the real struggle had proven to be getting inside of Niflheim. It had taken a full two days of melitituous planning before they'd finally wormed their way inside.

Of course, they'd had to leave the Regalia behind. Cor had driven the car back to Insomnia, leaving them reliant on public transport and their own feet. It had been clear the marshal didn't approve of their plan, but with even Ignis in on it the man had realised he couldn't dissuade them. He'd left without even a comment, although Noctis was sure his father had already been informed.

It had taken them a long eight days of sneaking about Gralea and picking up whatever tips they could on where Prompto might be, but they'd finally made it to Zegnautus Keep. Prompto was in here somewhere, Noct was certain of it. Every clue and hint had pointed to this place. The Keep was a massive maze of winding corridors and prowling Magitek Troopers so the trio had split up to cover ground quicker, all heading in their own directions to find Prompto. To find their friend.

"Any leads, Gladio?" Noctis paused as he heard Ignis' voice crackle through his earpiece, Gladio responding a moment later. "None. How 'bout you, Noct?"

The Prince sighed in irritation and begun to walk again, far too aware of how quickly time was passing. "No, I've got nothing." He muttered, unable to keep the bitterness from his voice. He'd hoped that at least one of them would have found something by now. Ignis seemed to pick up on his tone, offering words of comfort.

"It's okay, Noct. We'll find him soon."

Noctis let a brief smile blossom on his face at how Ignis was so quick to comfort him despite their separation. In return he voiced his worries, hesitant to share them but knowing that Ignis wouldn't poke fun at him for it. They were all worried about Prompto and they were all showing it in their own ways; Noctis was hellbent on finding him, Ignis was formulating the best plans he could and even Gladio was more impatient than usual.

"I know, Igs.. but what if we find a corpse?"

Noctis heard nothing but the dull crackle of static over his earpiece, gritting his teeth as he continued to march forwards. Ignis wasnt even gracing his pessimism with a response, then. Typical. He felt a surge of violent anger as he was reminded yet again how hopeless this situation was, a furious cry echoing down the corridor as he slashed through the unlucky Magitek Trooper that had stumbled round the corner, glowing red eyes soon fading out to blankness. He'd cut the thing's head clean off.

"Noct? Noct, are you okay?"

He inhaled sharply as he realised his microphone was still very much active; Ignis had heard his shout, probably the mechanical whirring of the MT too. He'd cut through the metal casing like it was nothing. He forced himself to take deep breaths and nodded, before speaking as he remembered that Ignis couldn't see him.

"I'm fine, Specs. I just.. really want to find Prompto."

Noctis jolted at the sudden crackle of static that filled the air, not coming from his own earpiece this time. He span around where he stood as laughter reverberated through the air, grip tightening on his sword. The laughter.. it wasn't a happy sound. As it died out a voice spoke, Noctis' eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out who could possibly be transmitting over the Keep's radios.

"What a touching display of affection from his Majesty-to-be! Tell me, why are you so desperate to find the pathetic little machine? I know it's one of a kind, but it's not worth all this trouble, I assure you."

"Shut up!" Noctis' initial reply came in an angry shout, the Prince baring his teeth in a snarl in the direction of the speaker. He knew it was impulsive, childish behaviour, but he found he didn't quite care right now. "Prompto's my friend! Of course we'll get him back!"

Noctis wasn't expecting the response he got. The man -he could tell the speaker was male from the deep, rich quality to his voice- laughed once more, the noise only riling the Prince further.

"Oh? The Prince of Lucis, friends with the Niflheim Machine? How adorably revolting!" The laughter came again and Noctis forced himself to just ignore it, continuing his march through what seemed like an endless maze of corridors, telling himself it wouldn't be long now. He'd find Prompto soon.

He'd been reminding himself of that ideal since they'd gotten here, and that had been four hours ago.

"But ah, where are my manners? I haven't even introduced myself! It's Izunia. Ardyn Izunia. Grand Chancellor of Niflheim."

Noctis had to take notice at that, each foot step loud and angry as he continued stalking the corridors, listening to the buzz of static in his ear as Ignis spoke over their earpieces again. "Noct, this isn't good. This place is meant to be deserted. Why would the Grand Chancellor of Niflheim possibly be here?"

Noctis felt himself grinding his teeth, jaw aching with the stress of it. Ardyn's sing song voice was doing his head in, and the man hadn't even said that much yet. He just wanted to find Prompto and leave this shithole. He was surprised to hear Gladio speak up with a suggestion. "Didn't sunshine mention somethin' about an Ardyn? He was his 'master' or whatever?"

Noct felt a chill sweep through him at the realisation that followed his Sheild's words, quickly driven away by the white hot heat of fury. "You fucker!" He roared, really wishing he had something to stab. Preferably Ardyn. "What did you do to Prompto!?"

That laughter again. Toxic and foul, the sound alone enough to make his skin prickle and itch. The excitement he could hear in Ardyn's voice really wasnt helping the Prince's anger, and he found a grim smile on his face as two Magitek Troopers rounded the corner, quick to cut through them. They were nothing, just pointless obstacles.

"Oh, your dear 05 is alive.. but for how much longer? I really can't say. You never know, Prince Noctis, perhaps one of the MTs you just cut down was your 'friend'. Ever consider that?"

Noctis froze momentarily before shaking his head, forcing away the cool trickle of dread as it sought to overwhelm him. "No. No, Prom said he's not like the other MTs. They're only like that when they're possessed by daemons. And he.. he can't be possessed. That's why you deemed him 'defective', you sick fucks."

What seemed like a disappointed sigh sounded over the speakers, although it was too loud and theatrical to be genuine. Ardyn tutted, "It's already told you it's origin story, then. What a pity, ruining my fun like that. Well.. I suppose you really ought to find him, hm? I expected him to bleed out almost twenty minutes ago you know."

Now that certainly caught Noctis' attention. He felt his breath hitch before he broke out into a run, a cold sweat beginning to form on his skin. Panic was seeping through him and he ran his fastest, warping right past a Magitek Trooper, desperate to get to Prompto as soon as possible.

His panic only seemed to amuse Ardyn, the man's vile laughter once again echoing down the halls. "Tick tock, your Highness, time is running out! Happy hunting~"

Another burst of static, and then the speakers fell silent. Noctis was wound too tightly to even feel relieved the man was gone, pace not slowing as he tore down the halls. Maybe they didnt have long left. Maybe Prompto was taking his last breath right now, alone, bleeding, certain his friends didn't care-

He cut the thoughts off entirely, eyes narrowing as he steeled himself, tuning out the burn in his legs completely. He would keep going. He'd keep going until he found Prompto - alive or dead.

"Gladio, hold him up. We have to cut him free, we don't have time to figure out how to work this.. this thing."

A grunt in agreement was Gladio's response, the man securing Prompto in a tight grip. The blonde was dead weight; he'd passed out seconds after they'd found him. Noctis pulled out a greatsword and slashed hard at the device holding Prompto's arms up, relieved as whatever mechanism kept the structure working broke. The cuffs secured tight around the blonde's wrists fell open. Without the device holding him up Prompto fell forward into Gladio's secure grip, the Shield carefully settling the boy on the floor so they could heal him.

Silently Noct pulled a High Potion, Elixir and Phoenix Down from the ether, shattering the curatives over Prompto in a glimmer of crystalline shards. He grit his teeth so hard he felt his jaw lock as he saw that telltale flaming halo of a working Phoenix Down appear for a few moment's around the blonde's head. He'd thought using the rare curative would be overkill, unnecessary, but it had worked. That meant..

Noctis felt like shards of ice had settled themselves in his gut. Prompto had ben dying, right then and there. If they'd taken even a few more seconds, a minute...

The first wet breath caught him by surprise, and then he was sobbing. Ignis crouched down beside him and pulled him into a firm embrace, rubbing a comforting hand over his back. Noctis was quick to hide his face in Ignis' pin-striped shirt, allowing himself this rare moment of vulnerability as he broke down.

"Shh, its okay Noct. He's okay. We made it." Noctis nodded and Ignis said nothing else, no more words needed.

They stayed like that for a minute or so, Noctis only realising he was trembling when Gladio came up behind him, pulling his jacket out the ether and wrapping it around his shoulders. Noctis shuddered, pulling the coat tighter around himself as he realised he was freezing. It was cold in here. His adrenaline had crashed completely, and even as he pushed himself up to standing he felt his legs wobble beneath him. That didn't matter right now. For once, he didn't matter.

It was time to take Prompto home.

(AN: I finally started the alternate ending fic! Be proud! And it's not over yet, oh no, this suckers gonna be multi chapter for sure. We've got I'd say four or five chapters to come after this? Depends how long I make them. Thanks for reading so far!


	2. Change

Chapter Two: Change

Noctis wasn't sure what he'd been expecting. Not this. Maybe a small naïve part of him had hoped that things could be the same as before. Sure even then Prompto had had a tendency to think of himself as worthless but he'd been getting better, right? Noctis had seen it for himself. Even in the little things, like how Prompto had stopped hesitating before joining -what Gladio had so creatively dubbed- the 'Tent Cuddle Pile' when they'd camped at the Havens scattered about Lucis.

It was as though they were starting from square one all over again. Prompto would still eat with them around the campfire but he didn't contribute to the conversation. He'd just stare into the fire blankly, as if he was seeing something far beyond the flickering dance of the flames. When Noctis had given the blonde his phone back -they'd found it in his sleeping bag after he'd left- he'd accepted it with a murmured thanks and a small smile, but it hadn't reached his eyes. Noctis had always loved how Prompto always used to smiled with his eyes, the expression genuine and whole hearted. Now.. now he was withdrawn, distant. As though he wasn't really there at all. As if he'd left a part of himself behind, in Zegnautus Keep.

Whatever Noctis had been expecting, this wasn't it.

They woke with the sun. Noctis found that lying in didn't hold as much appeal to him since Prompto had gone missing, even if he was tired. He'd much rather wake when Prompto did, which was generally when the sun came up. He didn't like to be away from the blonde, not for anything more than a few minutes. He knew it was irrational but he found himself worrying that the mysterious 'Ardyn' would creep out of the shadows and just.. steal Prompto away. Or worse, the blonde might just get up and leave again, make his way back to Niflheim.

They hadn't talked properly about what had happened, not really. They'd been on the borders of Niflheim and a truck carrying an active Magiteck Generator had come thundering down the road. The red glow had swept over them for just a few seconds, and then.. Prompto had tried to shoot him.

Noctis didn't even know how to start bringing that up. He remembered he'd talked to Prompto, after the 'incident'. Gladio had been angry at the time, his words cutting deep into the self worth Noct had been diligently cultivating inside Prompto. Inside his friend. Gladiolus had accused him, called him a traitor, " _just another MT_ ". Even as Prompto had tried to defend himself, Noctis had still seen the broken look on his face.

The night Prompto had left they hadn't even noticed -not until morning- because Gladio had made the blonde sleep outside. Hadn't even trusted him to come inside the tent. Noct clenched his hands into frustrated fists by his sides as he recalled the last line of the letter Prompto had left them; " _I love you Noct. I hope you can forgive me."_

The words still made him angry enough to shake, body trembling with his own rage. He should have done more. Prompto had been relying on him to do more, even if the blonde hadn't realised that himself. He should have stepped in when Gladio had spoken harshly, he should've made his Shield see reason. He was the future King, but he couldn't even protect one runaway Niff. He'd made Prompto his responsibility. He should've done more to keep him safe.

Noct jumped where he was hunched in his camping chair as he felt fingers tapping on his shoulder, twisting his head up and back to look at Ignis. The man was giving his hand a pointed stare and Noct frowned, looking back down at his own clenched fist, carefully forcing it loose. He grit his teeth as he saw the droplets of blood where his nails had dug right into his skin, leaving four deep crescent moon marks. No wonder Ignis had been concerned.

Without another word Ignis walked back over to where he was attending to breakfast, and Noctis breathed out a tired sigh. He was glad Ignis hadn't drawn Gladio's attention to his behaviour. Ever since Prompto had left he'd been more prone to overthinking, and the change hadn't slipped past Ignis. Whenever he was too deep in his own thoughts Ignis would silently pull him back out with a small touch. It was welcome. He'd never been all that great at looking after himself, but he had Ignis to do it for him.

Who did Prompto have?

Noctis looked over at the blonde, who was once more sat in his camping chair and starting at the flames crackling away in the fire pit. It had been four days since they'd rescued Prompto. The first had been spent at a hospital, but the Potions and Phoenix Down they'd given to Prompto when they'd first found him had been enough to cure his physical injuries. The consultants at the hospital had ran tests, which told them that Prompto was starving, dehydrated and likely sleep deprived. They'd excepted that, but it had still hurt to hear.

Prompto had remained unconscious for the eight hours they were at the hospital. Initially his assigned doctor had said he'd like Prompto to stay until he woke up again, but then a group of twenty or so badly injured hunters had been rushed in. Their conditions were far more unstable than Prompto's and they needed the bed Prompto was occupying, so the trio had taken him to a nearby hotel instead.

It hadn't gone down all that well. The receptionist hadn't even recognised Noctis as the Prince, but she had recognised Prompto's blonde hair. The light hair colouring marked him as being from Niflheim, and they'd been told in no uncertain terms that they had to leave, even if Prompto was completely unconscious. The next hotel was more than a six hour drive away and night was already pulling in. They'd opted to drive to a haven instead, not wanting to risk a daemon attack trying to get to the hotel. It wasn't worth the risk.

They hadn't left the camp since. Prompto had slept for a solid two days, Ignis and Noctis taking it in turns to watch him. They didn't want him to wake up alone, but they'd all agreed that Prompto waking up to Gladio probably wasn't the best idea either.

Noctis rubbed at his face absently, looking up as Ignis announced "breakfasts ready!" He sat up straight in his chair as Ignis handed him his bowl, and then Prompto. He winced as he saw the surprised reaction flit across the blonde's face the moment before he thanked Ignis. Prompto seemed to be taken by surprise every time Ignis presented him with food. He could only guess why, and he found his free hand clenched into a fist again at the possibilities his mind stirred up.

Ardyn must have done.. something. Well, it was clear he'd done a lot of things. None of them nice, judging from the state they'd found Prompto in. Prom hadn't talked about it, and nobody particularly felt like trying to push him too. It was clear the blonde had ben through hell and back though.

Noctis found himself sighing again, staring down at his bowl of porridge, stirring it around with his spoon. He didn't like mushy foods. At least Ignis had added a large helping of honey. They had to eat plain foods for now, or at least Prompto did. The doctors had suggested Ignis cook for the blonde separately, but the man had politely refused. He didn't want to do anything that might make Prompto feel segregated. So they were all eating bland foods, and even Gladio didn't complain, although Noctis was pretty sure his Shield was eating Pot Noodles in his own time.

"Hey Prom Pom, how you feeling?"

Noctis flopped down on top of his own sleeping bag, rolling onto his side so he was looking at Prompto. The blonde was watching him intently, but looked away as soon as Noct made eye contact, staring at a point on the canvas wall instead. Noctis lips twitched into a frown at that but he said nothing, listening to Prompto talk instead.

"Y-yeah, um.. I'm fine? Tired, I guess. Um... yeah."

Noct found himself yawning before he could stop himself, before nodding slowly in agreement. He itched to ask Prompto why he sounded so nervous, on edge, but he knew that was an insensitive line of questioning. "Yeah, me too. Hey, so you might've realised already but your guns back in the ether, okay? You can summon it whenever."

Noctis' eyes narrowed as he saw that surprised look on the blonde's face again, how honestly shocked he seemed. Why? Why was this coming as some kind of surprise?

"It is? Uh.. thanks I guess?"

Prompto fidgeted for a moment inside of his own sleeping bag before he looked up at Noctis again, finally meeting his eyes. "Um.. is Gladio, does he.. does he know?" Noct raised an eyebrow at that but quickly nodded, a frown on his face.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course he does. Prom, look.. no one, no one thinks you're gonna kill me, okay? Even Gladio finally got it into his head that it was the Magitek Generator that made you try in the first place. Like.. if we thought you were a traitor, do you really think we would have come to rescue you?"

Prompto bit his lip but nodded slowly, face a little disbelieving. "I.. okay. Yeah, okay. That... makes sense." Noctis sighed, looking at Prom with a sad smile. "Yeah. Yeah, it does make sense, but you don't really believe me."

He shook his head again as Prompto opened his mouth to argue, reaching out and brushing a few strands of hair away from the blonde's face. He was relieved when he didn't flinch, only tensed a little. He'd been worried that.. whatever Ardyn had done to Prompto would make him adverse to physical contact. It was nice to know that wasn't the case.

"Don't worry about it Prom. We fucked up. Gladio didn't think properly, Ignis and I didn't do enough to stop him from mistreating you. We should've done better. Hey, don't say anything. Just.. consider it. Please?"

Prompto had opened his mouth to say something -Noct didn't want to know what- but after a moment he closed it again and silently nodded. Even if Gladio had been harsh with him, he'd still understood why. He was a threat. He'd always be a threat, wouldn't he? He was just a product of the Empire. Noctis would realise that, one day. Realise that and get rid of him. Kill him, give him back to Niflheim.. whatever, the specifics didn't matter.

Although, now that he thought about it... he'd rather it was Noct than someone like Ardyn. Noctis always made him feel like things weren't so bad. Maybe he'd give him one of those kind smiles before he killed him, to make him feel better?

Noctis was oblivious to Prompto's thoughts. He watched his friend for a few moments before rolling over onto his back with another loud yawn, worming his way into his sleeping bag. "Right, how about we get some sleep, yeah?"

Prompto nodded silently and rolled to his side, facing the tent wall, effectively ending their conversation as he did. Noctis made a quiet sound of disapproval and suddenly Prom felt arms grabbing him around the sleeping bag, pulling him back towards Noctis. "You'll get cold all the way over by the wall" came the Prince's explanation and Prompto just nodded again, eyes wide as he stared at the tent floor, feeling the heat of Noctis pressing up against his back.

No more words were exchanged. He could tell when Noctis fell asleep by the way his breathing slowed and the grip around him loosened. He couldn't sleep. He tensed up in his sleeping bag as he heard Ignis and Gladio enter the tent hours later, their hushed conversation falling silent. He was expecting yelling, for Gladiolus to pull him away from Noctis, but... nothing. They just lay down and continued to talk quietly, as if Noctis pressing himself into Prompto's back was a regular occurrence.

He felt a sharp pang of heartache as he remembered that this _was_ a regular occurrence. Used to be, at least. They'd all slept curled up together before... before the incident. Now..

Prompto took a deep breath before forcing himself to relax, eyes finally sliding closed. "I'm safe" he told himself, even as he struggled to get his breathing to slow "I'm safe here. They won't hurt me." He tried to remind himself of that; he was safe now, even if everything was different.

Even if it'd never be the same again.

(A/n: I had to re-read the last ten chapters of Night Light to prep for this, and oh boy did I cry. All the feels came back and they came back hard.)


	3. Flowering

Chapter Three: Flowering

Prompto was considering it. Or trying, at the very least.

He still couldn't think on Noctis' words with anything but steadfast disbelief, even as he tried to find some kind of sense in them. "We fucked up" Noctis had said, like he wasn't the future King. "We should've done better" Prompto thought Noct was just being silly. Noctis was the Prince, the great future King of Light and Prophecies. As far as Prompto was concerned, Noctis had the full support of the Crown and Lucis Empire every time he spoke. He was infallible.

And yet.. Noct seemed to think he'd made a mistake. That Gladio and even Ignis -the perfect advisor- should have done something more. What they could have done he wasn't all that sure; he'd left of his own free will. He'd been sure it was the right decision at the time. Now? He still thought so. Although...

... if it had really been the right choice, why had they come back for him? Prompto remembered hoping beyond hope that Noctis would arrive, would make the pain stop, but he'd never thought he really would. The thought had just been something warm to cling on to in the cold of Zegnautus Keep. A night light in the dark that had felt like it was pressing in from all sides, eager to suffocate him.

He remembered at the end, Ardyn had said he'd survived longer than he'd expected. Prompto was still sure it was the thought of seeing Noctis' face again that had allowed him to cling to life for so long. He'd had nothing else to bother living for.

The only purpose he'd ever had was to serve the Niflheim Empire and he couldn't even do that anymore. That made Prompto laugh to himself in his camping chair, ignoring the concerned look the hollow noise garnered from Ignis, who was preparing breakfast nearby.

"Prompto dear, would you like breakfast now? Or later, when the others are awake?"

Prompto looked up at the question, the "Now please" coming with barely any thought. Of course he wanted it now. Then hopefully he could hide in the tent while Gladio and Noctis ate, avoiding the awkward silence that now accompanied campfire breakfasts.

It made Prompto's chest ache to remember how they used to be. Companionable and fun, full of teasing jokes and laughter. Well.. he'd known deep down that wouldn't be able to last. He wasn't supposed to have nice things, he didn't deserve them. Of course it was different now. It had been getting too good, more than what he'd deserved, so Ardyn had had to alter it. That made sense. It all made sense.

"Prompto, are you quite alright? Your hands are shaking." Prompto's head snapped up as Ignis spoke from right in front of him. He hadn't even noticed the advisor get so close, which.. that wasn't normal. He was supposed to be a soldier. He was observant. He should have noticed...

Ardyn would be disappointed.

"Prompto. Prompto, I want you to match your breathing to mine, okay? Are you listening to me?"

He nodded absently as he registered that he'd been asked a question, attention snapping back to Ignis once more as he felt soft hands cup each side of his face, gently coaxing him into making eye contact. He only realised then that he was breathing quickly, faster than anything that was normal. There wasn't enough air. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't-

"Please, match my breathing. You can do this Prompto. Come on."

He forced himself to listen because he didn't want to disappoint Ignis. He tried to match the pace of Ignis' steady, rhythmic breathing. He had a few false starts, breath stuttering before he could stop it, but soon enough he was breathing at a steadier pace. In and out, in and out. Ignis didn't release his face, keeping eye contact even as Prompto desperately wanted to look away. Why was he so pathetic? He couldn't even breathe correctly.

They stayed like that for a few more moments before Ignis finally let go of his face and turned, walking back towards his section of the haven, reserved for cooking. Prompto let out a silent exhale of relief that it was over. Ignis was no longer staring at him and seeing everything wrong with him, why he was so unworthy to be here. It was done.

But then Ignis came back and sat in the chair next to him, handing him a steaming bowl of porridge. Prompto took it numbly, stealing just a moment to appreciate the way the bowl warmed his hands. He stared down at the generous amount of maple syrup that Ignis always added to his porridge, knowing he preferred sweet foods.

"Do you want to talk about it? I think you should, Prompto. Its clear something is bothering you. Even if I can't help, I am always willing to lend my ear."

Prompto didn't look up, frown hidden as he continued to stare at the breakfast he could barely bring himself to eat. He didn't want to talk about it. If he did, Ignis might finally understand how unworthy he is, realise that he shouldn't be here. Prompto knew it was selfish, but he didn't want to go. Not just yet. He enjoyed being around these brilliant people, even as he knew he was just dragging them down. One day they'd realise that. Then they'd give him back to Ardyn, who would finally kill him. Or maybe Noctis would just do the job himself? He'd prefer that.

Maybe a negotiation was in order? Prompto nodded to himself, still not looking up at Ignis. Gladiolus and Noct were still safely asleep in the tent, so they didn't have to hear. Only Ignis would have to know, have to realise how pathetic he was, and Prompto hoped the man might take a day or two to think it all over before informing Noctis that they'd have to.. dispose of Prompto.

"Okay." He said finally, ignoring how his voice was shaking "Okay. I'll tell you, but.. for a favour."

He expected Ignis to laugh at him maybe, tell him that he was in no position to be demanding things. Prompto's gaze flickered to Ignis' face for just a moment, relieved as he saw curiosity there. Ignis was considering it. That was good.

"That.. it depends on what the favour is, I suppose. Really though Prompto, you're under no obligation to tell me anything anyway, but.. what is it you'd like?"

Prompto felt his lips twist into a grim smile at that. Ignis really was considering it. His answer came quickly, because he didn't have to think about it. He was already certain of what he wanted. "When you decide you don't want me around anymore, don't give me back to Niflheim. I know that'd be easier, but I'd like you to kill me yourself please. Okay?"

Ignis didn't say anything. Prompto didn't look at him, too scared of what expression he'd see on the man's face. Realisation, probably. Maybe pity, although he wasn't sure he wanted to see that one. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds, and then-

"What the fuck, Prompto?"

Prompto bolted out of his chair, bowl of porridge clattering to the floor, forgotten. He backed towards the fire, staring in shock at Noctis, who was standing a few feet behind his chair. Had he been standing there the whole time? How much had he heard?

Enough, apparently. Prompto couldn't tell what Noctis was thinking, a myriad of emotions painted across the Prince's face. He seemed.. upset? Why was he upset? Oh, maybe because he'd asked Ignis, instead of going to him? That would make sense. Noctis was the one in charge after all.

"Or you could do it, Noct. I don't mind who."

Prompto quickly realised that hadn't been the right thing to say, watching as an emotion he could clearly recognise as anger became prevalent on the Prince's face. It was clear as day, in the way Noctis' whole body bunched up like he wanted to fight something. Prompto tensed in response, preparing himself to run because Noctis was currently staring at him meaning he was the target of all that anger, and he was probably going to be attacked and-

Then it was all gone. Just like that Noctis seemed to be calm again, walking around from the backs of the chairs and sitting down in the seat Prompto had vacated. He was still staring at him but when he spoke his voice was quiet, steady. Not even a trace of his anger remained.

"Prompto. I'd like you to sit down in the chair next to me, okay? Yeah, this one. There we go." Prompto had followed the instructions, questioning Noctis' intentions. How had he gotten all that anger leave him in a second? He'd never seen anyone do that before.

"Prompto dear, I'd like you to answer something for me. What do you think is going to happen, over the next.. lets say a year. Could you give your prediction for the future?"

Ignis' words made Prompto's eyebrows draw together in confusion, the blonde unable to fathom why Ignis was asking him this. It's not like the future was in his control or anything. But both Noctis and Ignis were staring at him intently, so Prompto decided that maybe it was best to just try and answer.

"Well, uh.. I don't think it'll take a year. Maybe a week or two? And I'll mess up, or you'll just realise yourself that I'm not able to do anything useful for you guys, and then uh.. you'll probably drop me off at one of the military outposts, right? They'll give me back to Ardyn, and he'll kill me. I'm not... I'm not useful to anyone, anymore."

Before he even had time to react there were arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. It was awkward because Noctis was pulling him half off his seat, but he hadn't really had time to stand up so there was a height difference. He didn't know what to do. Hug back? But before he had the chance Noctis was pulling away, staring at him with even more focus than before.

"I'm going to kill Ardyn." He said, and Prompto was shocked by the sheer amount of determination in his voice. He didn't think he'd ever heard Noctis sound so driven about anything before. Even Ignis was nodding to himself, seemingly sharing the same sentiment.

Prompto didn't know what to think. He didn't understand. How had Noctis heard all of that, heard him admit himself that he wasn't useful for anything anymore, and then come to that conclusion?

"But.. why?" He could hear it in his own voice, how lost he sounded. Then Noctis was hugging him again, and it reminded him of all the times they'd hugged before, making his heart hurt and pine for what he could no longer have.

"Ardyn has poisoned you, Prompto. Even when we first found you, you understood just how special you were. How useful. You're amazing Prom, even if you can't see it yourself"

He was shocked by the sheer sincerity of it. Noctis sounded completely certain, and even Prompto couldn't miss how the Prince seemed to genuinely believe what he was saying. He felt the burn of tears welling up in his eyes before he could help himself, hiding his face in Noctis' shirt, just as he had all those weeks -or was it months?- ago, at the Chocobo Outpost. Why was he always ruining Noctis' shirts with his tears?

"You really believe that, don't you?" He could barely believe the words coming out of his own mouth. This felt.. this was too good to be true. He didn't deserve this, not when he could offer nothing to pay back the kindness Noctis had shown him. "But I.. I'm not useful, Noct. I'm.. I'll slow you guys down."

Noctis pulled away and wiped at his own eyes, Prompto shocked to see that he'd been crying. Why? What did he have to cry over? Ignis spoke up, standing up from his chair. "Prompto... you're more useful than you seem to realise. You're the best marksman in all of Lucis, did you know? Practical skills aside, you offer us something that makes you incredibly dear to us. All of us."

Promtpo frowned in confusion, looking up at Ignis. What could he possibly be giving them, that could give him value? "What is it?" He asked, biting at his lip as he saw the warm smile that had appeared on Ignis face.

"You. Your companionship. You being here is all we could ever ask for, Prompto." Ignis' answer had his eyes welling up in fresh tears and this time he initiated the hug, wrapping his arms tight around Ignis. Ignis didn't even tense in surprise, only wrapping his long arms around him, rubbing soothingly circles into his back.

In that moment, Prompto truly understood what being loved felt like.

(A/N: I'm sorry I took so long to update! College has been kicking my ass, and I wanted to finalise the plot for this before I wrote any further. But now I know 100% where Exsomnis is going it's full steam ahead!)


	4. The Problem

Chapter Four: The Problem

Things were getting better. He was recovering. He was fine.

That's what Prompto had told him, and like a fool Noctis had chosen to believe him.

In hindsight, Noctis thought he hadn't believed Prompto due to ignorance, but instead because some naive little part of him had wanted so desperately to hear what Prompto had been saying and for it to be true. Because Prom _had_ been improving, that was undeniable. He just.. hadn't been ready to go on a hunt yet.

Noctis hadn't even wanted to go in the first place, but they'd needed the funds. Unfortunately for them the only hunt currently available in Hammerhead was a particularly nasty, high ranking one. They all knew it would be a dangerous task, but they also hadn't been able to beg smaller tasks off of Cid after their previous run-in with the man. Ignis had decided that it wouldn't be worth it to even try, because they would risk ending up with Cid ranting about how Prompto was "just a machine" again that sounded far too much like the sorts of things Ardyn had been saying.

So after much deliberation they'd accepted Takka's hunt. Technically the hunt was still available, because they hadn't even managed to complete it. Not after Prompto had been seconds away from losing an arm. Possibly even a head.

When Ignis had voiced his concerns that Prompto wasn't fit to go on a hunt.. well, they should have listened. They'd been so experienced in hunting before that Noctis had almost forgotten how a situation could go from in control to potentially fatal in a split second.

Gladio had roared "Prompto, wake up!" Across the clearing, and the blonde had flinched so hard that he'd almost dropped his gun. He hadn't even shot it once, which was.. well, Noctis wasn't sure what he'd even been expecting in that regard. He'd had no delusions that Prompto would be playing a particularly active role in the hunt, but...

He hadn't been expecting him to just freeze up and stare at some point off in the bushes, either. Not when there was a giant Molokujata looking to impale him with its tusks.

If Noctis hadn't warped over and parried the beast in time, well.. he was pretty sure that Prompto would currently be in critical condition. Or dead.

But that wasn't even his main concern right now. Sure, he was shaken by the hunt -they all were- but it was in the past. What was worrying him now was that other than a dazed mumble of "Oh.. Oh, sorry guys.. I just thought I saw something.. Sorry..." after they'd ran from the battle, Prompto hadn't said much at all. The only positive seemed to be that Prompto hadn't taken to isolating himself again, which was an improvement. He still sat with them but he didn't speak, not even to thank Ignis when the advisor handed him a bowl of soup for dinner. Ignis had given Noctis a 'look' at that but hadn't said anything, not wanting to risk a negative reaction if he reprimanded the blonde for his lack of manners.

Noctis was worried, but he had no ideas on how to help. That just frustrated him even more, because it seemed he'd found himself in that situation an awful lot recently.

It was nighttime when Noctis finally started to get an idea of what could possibly be on Prompto's mind. That is, besides the weeks of torture the blonde had been forced to endure. They didn't talk about it, but it had been more than obvious from the state they'd found him in that Prompto had been physically and mentally abused. Noctis' hands still shook in barely contained fury if he so much as thought about Ardyn.

It had been a long day. Ignis had watched over Prompto while Gladio and Noctis had spent a good twelve hours fishing a the nearby lake. They'd caught a few edibles and others that they could sell, as well as one particularly large Fan Bluegill. After the failed hunt yesterday they'd tried to think up new, safer ways to earn some coin. Fishing wasn't sustainable, but it would do for now.

Dinner was finished, and everyone was ready to get some much needed sleep. Ignis had already headed inside the tent and Noctis was putting the clean plates away before bed. But Prompto, Prompto didn't seem to be doing much of anything except sitting on the edge of the haven. His legs were hanging over the ledge, swinging back and forth gently as he stared off into the distance, back to the campsite.

Noctis and Gladio shared a look before both returning their gazes to Prompto's back, Gladio clearing his throat after a moment "Hey, uh.. Prom? You gonna, y'know, come to bed? It's getting late."

Prompto turned his head to face them and Noctis watched as those entrancing red yes of his glinted in the moonlight. It was the only feature that marked him as different to a regular human, but Noctis found those eyes beautiful. He loved the way they almost seemed to glow under the right light, or the intensity he'd see there when Prompto was truly passionate about something-

Not anymore. Prompto didn't seem to get excited about much at all anymore.

"I'm not really tired." Prompto said, but his voice was slightly off, as though there was a different meaning to his words entirely. And then; "But hey Gladio, 'Mutts of the empire can sleep on the floor where they belong', remember? I wouldn't want to intrude."

Both Noctis and Gladio were stunned. Prompto had turned back to stare off into the horizon as he'd spoken so they hadn't seen his face, but they'd both heard the steel in his voice, the unspoken challenge. It was in equal parts concerning but also a possible sign of progress. Prompto wouldn't go within ten feet of Gladio when they'd first rescued him from Zegnautus Keep, so for him to be so boldly challenging him now? That had to mean something.

After a few moments of stunned uncertainty Ignis poked his head out of the tent, looking up at Gladiolus. "You deserved that" He stated, the slightest hint of amusement lacing his voice, before he retreated back inside the safety of tent canvas. Gladio just shook his head before heading into the tent as well and -after staring at Prompto's back for several moments- Noctis followed. If Prompto needed space, they'd give him space. Anything. Anything to help him heal.

Noctis had honestly not expected for things to get any worse. Unfortunately life loved to pelt him with nasty surprises, so of course the next morning they found Prompto in the worst state he'd been in since they'd rescued him.

The blonde had been outside all night, which hadn't been too much of a concern because the weather was still warm enough to sleep outdoors. But when Noctis left the tent the next morning he'd found Prompto curled up on the floor by the fire, shivering violently. He was crouching by the blonde's side in an instant, grabbing Gladio's jacket from where the Shield had slung it over the back of his camping chair last night. He coaxed Prompto into sitting up and wrapped the jacket around him, keeping a gentle hopefully grounding grip on Prompto's shoulders.

"Hey Prom, you okay man? Look at me. Hey, come on." Prompto didn't seem to respond at all for a few moments before his eyes slowly moved up to meet Noctis', the Prince offering him a weak smile. "There we go. I- what happened, Prom? You shouldn't be shivering, its really warm out here."

A frown reached Prompto's face and he stared off at a spot just above Noctis' shoulder for several seconds, before shaking his head. Without a word he stood up, Noctis doing the same, watching his friend with concern. Prompto stood there staring down at the campfire before he looked back up at Noctis, a frown still in place.

"I'm fine." He said, before taking his seat by the campfire. Noctis privately thought that he'd never heard someone quite so uncertain of their own lie before.

Ignis found that it was quite impossible to miss the looks Prompto was giving Gladio. The Shield had woken up last for once, the previous day of dragging large fish out of the water having taken its toll. When Gladio had emerged from the tent Ignis had been busy cooking, but out the corner of his eye he'd seen how Prompto's whole body had tensed even as his eyes remained fixed on the floor. It was.. concerning. Ignis reasoned that perhaps it was because Prompto had spoken out against Gladio last night. Maybe he expected some form of retribution?

Ignis exhaled slowly as if to banish the thoughts, adjusting his glasses before continuing to eat his porridge. It wouldn't be long now until Prompto could stomach richer foods again. He'd even mixed a few wild berries into today's porridge, giving it a bit more flavour than usual. The berries where somewhat bitter, but overall nice enough. Still, he was looking forwards to a time when he could make proper dishes again.

Noctis and Gladiolus were in conversation about the best tactics to employ when fighting daemons. Ignis had noticed that Noctis had tried to draw Prompto into the conversation five separate times now, but the blonde had brushed off every comment or question with a few words and a shrug before returning to his porridge. That was, yet again, worrying behaviour. Prompto had always been especially receptive to Noctis, so it was clear something had changed, but he didn't know what.

The fact frustrated him, because Ignis was well aware that all three of them were painfully unequipped to deal with Prompto's current mental state. He needed proper treatment, a therapist. However, Ignis also knew that Prompto's past would have to remain confidential until reviewed in extent by King Regis. That meant that only one of the therapists employed by the Crown -the woman usually reserved for traumatised Glaives- would be suitable for Prompto's therapy and for that they'd have to go to Insomnia. Unfortunately Prompto wasn't in any fit state to travel long distances and the trip back Insomnia would take over a week even with the Regalia.

It was a conundrum to be sure, and Ignis knew there was no easy way to solve it. Their only option is to be there for Prompto, to offer the support and closeness they -as his friends- are able to provide.

Whether or not Prompto would accept that support? Well, that was another matter entirely.

"Hey man, you okay?"

Noctis was by Prompto's side in a second as the blonde started retching in the corner of their little camp. Prompto just shook his head and a few moments later threw up in a messy puddle on the ground, eyes watering.

Noctis stared down at the black goop he now recognised as daemon blood on the ground. There wasn't as much of it as what Prompto had been throwing up the very first time they'd found him, but that didn't make it any less concerning. Prompto seemed to notice where he was staring and shook his head again, wiping at his streaming eyes. "It's fine, Noct. Just.. leftover. From when Ardyn.. y'know."

Noctis just nodded, because he didnt know, but he didn't want Prompto to feel pressured into telling him about his experiences with Ardyn. "Yeah bud, I get it. Lets just... come on, sit down. I'll get you some water."

A week passed. By now they'd all noticed how Prompto's condition seemed to be deteriorating, but none of them really wanted to ask him about it. How would they even start? Even Gladiolus had tried to think of some way to begin that conversation, and he was pretty certain Prompto didn't want anything to do with him. He understood that, even if thinking of the casual familiarity and friendship they'd had before made his heart ache with a sickening mix of nostalgia and longing.

It had felt good to have a friend like that. Sure, Iggy and Noctis were his friends and he wouldn't trade them for the world. Prompto, though.. Gladio was fairly certain that there was nobody quite like Prompto out there. And that.. well, it made sense. Nobody would've had the fucked up upbringing that Prompto had experienced, nor the strange, twisted innocence that came with being isolated from the world for so long.

Gladio had wanted so desperately to protect him. He'd always had a protective nature, sure, but something about Prompto made it flare. He wanted to make sure the little ball of sunshine got nothing but good experiences from the world that had so far done nothing but torment him.

But then Prompto had tried -had been forced to try- to kill Noctis. So, of course, Gladio had tried to kill him back.

He was still so thankful Noctis and Ignis had managed to stop him. He knew that if he had killed Prompto, he would in fact have been able to forgive himself. It was by all technicalities a breech of his duties, his oath, to let Prompto live. Yet... that blonde ball of sunshine had lit up all their lives. And would again, Gladio was sure of it. They just needed to help Prompto recover first.

He was gaining weight dangerously slowly, even with Ignis' diet plan in place. His current underweight state left Prompto looking gaunt and constantly tired, although Gladio wasn't sure that was all down to the starvation Ardyn had clearly put him through. At first Prompto had been sleeping anywhere upwards of ten hours a night, his body needing to recover from the ordeal it had been forced through. Now.. Prompto still needed to recover, but ever since the night he'd declared he wouldn't be joining them in the tent Gladio wasn't sure how much sleep the blonde had been getting. Not a healthy amount, judging from the deep bags under Prompto's eyes.

Gladiolus still wasnt sure what to make of that whole situation, either. Prompto had both outright challenged and shamed him for his previous words. Ignis had been right - he'd definitely deserved it. But Prompto hadnt seemed the type to call him out like that - was it a sign of progression of regression? He couldn't tell. He wasn't made to handle this kind of crap, to try and understand how someone's mind was working. He just wanted to protect people. That was all. Ignis was the group thinker.

Unfortunately Ignis seemed to be about as stuck as the rest of them. Nobody knew what Prompto needed. Just figuring out how to act around him was a struggle now. Sometimes it seemed like Prompto needed space, and they'd give it, but then the blonde would only grow more and more withdrawn. Or he'd be laughing and chatting with them and it'd seem as though things were maybe getting better, but the next second he'd tense up or flinch for no apparent reason and brush off their concerned questions, insisting "I'm fine", as if they were ever going to believe that.

Prompto was not fine. Nothing about any of this was fine. Prompto was getting worse and they had to figure out why.

When they found out.. oh, once they knew it all made so much sense. And that just made it all the easier to hate themselves for not seeing it sooner.

(This chapter was a bitch to write, sorry it took so damn long! I'm really bad at focusing on a character's emotional state, which is making this alt ending really hard to write because -surprise surprise- it focuses on Prom's emotional state! Ugh. On the plus side the deeper plot kicks in next chapter so.. yay? Two or three chapters left to go, depending on how all this turns out. Would really appreciate any comments because I'm kinda struggling with motivation at the moment x )


	5. Distraction

Chapter Five: Distraction

"But hey Gladio, 'Mutts of the empire can sleep on the floor where they belong', remember? I wouldn't want to intrude."

Even as he spoke the words, Prompto didn't dare to turn around. He felt as though his whole body was on edge, every muscle taught and ready to _run_. He was prepared for -expected even- an attack, some form of retaliation. But instead he received only silence, followed by the sound of shuffling footsteps as Noctis and Gladiolus retreated to the comforts of the tent, leaving him to enjoy the gentle warmth of the late summers air alone.

The weather was good even late at night like this and he liked that. After countless days -weeks?- of the damp cold that had seemed to fill Zegnautus Keep, this was a welcome change. Prompto continued to stare off at the horizon, admiring the view. He was entranced by what seemed like a sea of fir trees that reached taller than any machine or building he'd ever seen. Loqi... Loqi had told him a little about the Imperial City, the very centre of Niflheim. Apparently it had structures called 'Skyscrapers' in it, majestic things that Loqi had promised would take his breath away if he were to see them. The Brigadier General had seemed so sad when he'd said that though, but Prompto wasn't sure why. There was a lot he didn't understand still, about people. Emotions.

That was okay. He was learning.

He wondered if Insomnia -the heart of Lucis- had the same huge buildings Loqi had described to him. Noctis had said they'd go to Insomnia soon. He had never elaborated when 'soon' was supposed to be, but Prompto had a growing suspicion that the only reason they hadn't started the journey there yet was because of him. It frustrated him because he didn't understand why and he didn't want to ask, either. So he waited, wondering if he'd ever see Noctis again once they arrived in Insomnia.

Maybe it was all a lie and as soon as they arrived they'd lock him away in a place even darker than Zegnautus Keep.

Prompto sighed to himself as that lovely little thought popped up, trying to push it away. It was ridiculous. He'd met King Regis -Noctis' Father- and the man had seemed lovely. He'd called him a _friend_. The only other people to ever call him that were Noctis and Ignis ("Gladio too", his mind insisted) and they were amazing people, so King Regis was clearly just as amazing. The bad thought was just that, a bad thought.

Loqi had told him about them many years ago. Apparently they were called 'intrusive thoughts', and they were just the dark spaces in his mind playing tricks on him. Prompto hadn't understood what that meant either, so Loqi had explained all of that to him too.

Prompto had always been fascinated by every little thing Loqi had taught him. It was much easier to understand it all now that he was in the outside world experiencing everything first hand. It was scary, too. So much bigger than those little pieces of the world Loqi had gifted to him when he returned from his travels.

His favourite times had always been when Loqi showed him photos of things to help him understand them better. Prompto frowned at the view in front of him, thinking how the scene looked just like some of the pictures Loqi had showed him on what he'd called the "internet". It'd make a good photo. He brushed his hand over his empty pocket, where he'd once kept the phone Noctis had given him. He'd liked it. It had given him some little thing that connected him to Noctis, Ignis and Gladio, when everything else about him made him so very different.

It was gone now, crushed under the heel of Ardyn's boots within the maze of Zegnautus Keep. Ardyn had taken one look at it and laughed, shaking his head "Machines shouldn't play with other machines, darling"

Prompto's expression darkened at the memory. Ardyn was like the intrusive thoughts. A little dark thing playing tricks on him. They could be nasty. They could make him doubt himself, others, everything and anything he'd ever believed in.

But ultimately? He could choose to ignore them. He could choose not to pay any attention at all. And then?

Then, Ardyn couldn't hurt him anymore. Now that he'd remembered that he felt it ring true in his mind, the sentiment an irrefutable fact.

"Hey Prompto."

Just like that his good mood was ruined, and every muscle in his body was tense again. Gladio was standing next to him and that in itself was a problem, because Prompto hadn't heard him approaching despite the fact that he'd been training his whole life, and a good deal of that training had focused on threat detection and awareness. It was like he had little alarm bells in his mind that rang loudly when something was amiss. Right now his mind was a cacophony of screeching bells. Bells, and fear.

It was so painfully obvious that something was wrong. Not knowing the extents of his training, Gladio had been taking care not to accidentally startle or sneak up on him ever since they'd retrieved him from Zegnautus Keep. In fact Gladio had been limiting conversation with him entirely, seeming to be entirely uncomfortable whenever he had talked to Prompto. Most importantly, Gladiolus Amicitia had entered the tent exactly four hours and fifteen minutes ago, and so -based off of Prompto's previous observation and understanding of the Shield's sleeping patterns- Gladio should have been deeply asleep.

Gladiolus was not asleep.

Just because Prompto sensed the movement as it started did apparently not mean he was capable of getting out of the way in time. A fist collided hard with his jaw with a force that sent him reeling, hands grazing on the hard rock of the haven as he caught himself from falling flat on his back. He stared up at Gladio, suddenly very much aware of just how big the man was.

A boot came crashing into his side and he could do nothing but curl in around it, winded. He coughed, not surprised at the thin sheen of blood that splattered across the ground. He'd bitten his tongue on impact, a jarring force that had seemed to jolt right through his body.

A movement and suddenly Gladio was crouched besides him, a hand grabbing at his hair and forcing his head up, neck craning at an angle that was entirely uncomfortable. He stared, eyes red and wild in the moonlight that illuminated their little camp, washing the colour out of everything even as it provided light. Gladio must have seen something he liked on Prompto's face because he smiled, an unpleasant twisted thing, before releasing the death grip he'd held on Prompto's hair.

"Come on Prom, its rude to ignore someone when they're greeting you. Or didn't they teach you that in Niflheim?" Prompto just shook his head and tried to push himself up on shaky arms, adrenaline rushing through him, leaving him invigorated but skittish.

"I don't- I wasn't-" But then there was an elbow connecting sharply with the back of his neck. It sent him right back down to the floor, the world swimming out of focus. That had been close to a sensitive point for sure. If Gladio had hit just a bit lower with a little more force, he could have damaged the cervical vertebrae, severing his spinal cord. Just like that he'd be paralysed for life, or maybe just dead. Prompto wasn't sure which was preferable.

"Hey, how about we take this a little further away from camp, yeah? Wouldn't want to disturb Noct with how fuckin' pathetic you are."

He flailed as he was picked up but that just made Gladio chuckle, the sound dark and unpleasant. Then he was falling, Gladiolus carelessly throwing him over the side of the haven. A desperate cry of pain left him as he landed on the rocks a few metres below, breathing fast and panicked as he tried to scramble to his feet. He needed to get up, needed to run, needed to-

"Yeah, no, not so fast."

Prompto could only groan in pain as Gladio lifted him up by the neck with just one hand, a brutal reminder of just how incredibly strong the Shield was. Prompto jerked as he was dropped to the ground once more, white blotches dancing in front of his eyes as his head cracked on the rocks. He felt the warm rush of blood as skin split above his eye, right across his forehead. There was blood getting in his eyes and he reached up wish a shaking hand to wipe it away, only for his wrist to be seized in a tight grip.

"Prom.. there's something you have to understand." Gladio pulled him around so he was lying in the dirt on his back, his breath leaving him in a pained cough as the man straddled him, placing what felt like his full weight on Prompto's stomach and chest.

"You've tricked Noct and Iggy into feeling responsible for you, yeah? I _understand,_ kid. You're lonely. Don't have anyone to go to now you've gotten that Brigadier General prat killed."

Prompto turned away at that, staring at the rocks and dust by his head to hide the tears welling up in his eyes, slipping silently over his nose and down his cheeks. Loqi was.. he'd gotten Loqi killed? He'd tricked Noct? He felt his body start to tremble, a fresh wave of tears forming.

"I-I didn't mean to. I didnt realise-" he was cut off by a hand slotting over his mouth, Prompto directing a confused, wet gaze up at Gladio in response. The man shook his head slowly and Prompto thought that perhaps he looked a little disappointed. Sad even. The almost gentle expression didn't match his violent actions of seconds ago and that left Prompto even more on edge than he'd been before.

"Shh. Mutts of the Empire don't get to talk. I don't care if you didn't mean to do it. You're probably too stupid to even realise you were doing it, yeah?"

Prompto didn't respond. Couldn't, with the hand pressed so tightly over his mouth. It was hard to breathe with Gladio still sitting on him and he could feel his focus slipping, a fuzzy grey starting to impose on the corners of his vision. Gladiolus seemed pleased by his lack of response, a grim smile twisting at his lips as he leant closer, so close that Prompto could feel the man's breath on his face.

It smelt stale, foul, as though chunks of rotting meat had been left in his mouth for days without brushing. It was a putrid scent that made Prompto instinctively try to cringe away. He didn't remember Gladio ever smelling like that before, the man was hygienic enough. Ignis hadn't even cooked them any meat based meals recently, so why...?

"Now Prom, here's what we're gonna do. You stay the fuck away from Noct and Iggy. You don't talk to them unless they talk to you. You're like a parasite, sucking away their time and energy. Noctis has better things to worry about than some stupid fucking MT"

With his free hand Gladio twisted to reach into his pocket, Prompto watching in confusion as the man pulled out a potion. He screwed his eyes shut just in time as Gladio poured it over his face, feeling his split skin begin to stitch up almost immediately.

"There, now Ignis and Gladio won't waste more time asking you about those injuries. See how that works?"

Prompto nodded even as tears continued to slide down his face, leaving little trails of salt over his skin. Gladio returned the nod and after a moment drew his hand away from Prompto's mouth, the blonde gasping in lungfuls of air. Slowly Gladiolus drew back so that he was sitting up straight again, even as he kept his weight on Prompto's stomach.

"Good boy. If I see you taking up even a second of their time unnecessarily, we'll have another one of these little meetings again. I won't go so easy next time."

Without another word Gladio stood and walked away, off into the surrounding trees. Prompto didn't know what the man was doing in the trees but he found he didn't quite care. Instead he just lay there looking up at the twinkling stars in the sky above, wishing he had a potion to apply to the rest of his body.

It was only hours later that he moved, and even then it was only because he could hear the moaning and creaking of a daemon nearby. His whole body ached in protest and he had to stop for a minute as his ribs felt like pure fire. After allowing them to settle as much as they would he dragged himself back up the incline to the safety of the haven. There he collapsed by the fire, curling in on himself in a tight ball, unable to stop his shivering.

What followed was a long night, Prompto flinching at every noise that sounded just a little too close. And when Noctis found him the next morning, in exactly the same spot he'd collapsed.. well, was it all that surprising that he found himself a little reluctant to engage with the Prince?

He was just a distraction, after all.


	6. Somnus Ultima

Chapter Six: Somnus Ultima

Just getting himself through one day after another seemed to be its own special kind of hell now. Prompto found that the less food he had in him the more his vision would blur at the edges, the less concentration and focus he had. He'd even started slipping into little dozes here and there, his body trying to preserve what little energy it had. He found the naps just left him feeling even more sluggish and disorientated when he woke up.

Ignis was worried about him. Prompto hadn't realised himself -he was too far out of it most of the time to even attempt reading anyone's social cues or body language. Gladiolus had made sure he knew though, doling several punches to Prompto's ribs and stomach to make sure he understood that Ignis' concern was a problem. Prompto thought that that made sense. Ignis had better things to be worried about than the fact that Prompto was throwing up most of what he ate these days.

Gladiolus had been pulling him aside most nights now. At first Prompto had tried to say he was sorry, had tried to reason with the Shield, but that had just made the man angrier, more violent. So eventually Prompto had just stopped talking. He'd follow Gladio a little ways away from the camp -sometimes they'd even go out into the forest if Gladio thought Prompto would be screaming- and the man would punish him for his failures. That, also, was something that Prompto understood. Failures were punished, and he wasn't doing anything right these days.

Despite the punishments, Prompto was struggling to set things right. It seemed that the more he tried to fade into the background the more attention Ignis and Noctis -and in turn, Gladiolus- payed to him. It was frustrating. His very existence was a nuisance.

Loqi would have been ashamed.

"Hey blondie, mind helping me grab some wood for the fire real quick?"

Prompto looked up in surprise at that, eyes darting to Noctis for a moment before back to the Shield. He stood up from his seat by the dwindling fire and forced himself to nod, the movement jerky, a weak smile tugging at his lips. "Sure thing."

There were no more words needed. Prompto followed Gladio towards the forest, staring down at the floor littered with leaves and pine needles. It wasn't night yet, Noctis and Ignis were still awake. This was.. unusual. Gladiolus usually waited until everyone else was asleep before punishing him, so as not to disturb them. Perhaps he'd done something to warrant some kind of immediate punishment? Probably. They were heading to the forest after all, so clearly Gladiolus expected him to be loud.

Prompto found himself colliding with Gladio's back as the man stopped abruptly, Prompto looking up at him in surprise. They usually went so much deeper into the forest than this. Gladio looked around for a moment, assessing, before nodding to himself, gaze turning to Prompto. "This is far enough."

It was pathetic how the very first punch managed to catch him off guard even though Gladio was standing right in front of him. Prompto let out a cry as he heard more than felt his nose crack, blood immediately gushing down his chin and onto his clothes. The initial break had been bad but the second punch to the same spot was agony. Prompto let loose a scream as he dropped to his knees, hands hovering over his crushed nose. He was already crying. Without giving him any time to recover a hand twisted into his hair, forcing his head down into the dirt.

The world was swimming. After a few moments Gladio released his grip on his head but Prompto didn't move, just trying to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. In. His nose screamed in protest even as he breathed through his mouth, forcing himself not to gasp for the air his body so desperately wanted more of. He couldn't, it'd hurt so much more if he did. He might black out. Gladio wouldn't like that.

The grip under his chin was rough, forcing him to look up. Gladio had crouched down in front of him, was giving him the same critical gaze he'd assessed their surroundings with earlier. The man's face pulled into a frown and he reached up, roughly wiping at the tears tracking down Prompto's cheek. He hadn't even realised he'd been crying, tears mixing with blood. Gladio's hand came away smeared with red and he made a noise of disgust, wiping it away on Prompto's shirt.

"Dear me, it seems you're in much worse a state than I expected. Stand. Come on now, you can do that for me, cant you?"

Prompto tried. He pushed himself up with his hands, ignoring how badly he was shaking. He stumbled as soon as he started to rise to his feet. He fell sideways hard into a tree, then used it to try and claw himself up. Prompto got halfway upright before he lost his grip on the bark and fell to the ground again, moaning in pain as the impact jostled his mess of a nose. He forced himself to his knees, swaying unsteadily even then. Prompto looked up at Gladiolus. The man stood with his arms crossed, towering above him, his eyes the coldest Prompto had ever seen them.

"I'm disappointed."

Those words hit with an impact Prompto hadn't expected. Just two words, but they seemed to hold more weight than anything else Gladio had said over the past few weeks. He felt them like a stab wound, sharp and painful and with the promise of so much worse to come.

But then Gladio was smiling again and the clearing grew darker and cold, so cold. His face, Gladio's face was twisting into something Prompto still saw in his nightmares and he reeled back because it couldn't be. It couldn't be, not here, not now and the shadows were moving, they were moving and-

"I must say S6, I expected so much more. Ah well. I'd say you've been fun, but 'failed potential' would be far more fitting, yes?"

Then the shadows weren't shadows anymore but a dark black matter somewhere between liquid and dust that Prompto recognised all too well. They tumbled from Ardyn's body and slithered along the forest floor towards him and Prompto couldn't get away, he couldn't run, he could barely stand.

They were everywhere. In his mouth, forcing their way through his ruined nose, in through his ears and eyes and the pores of his skin. He tried to throw them up, retching around the squirming string of black sliding down his throat but it only persisted. It was everywhere, it was inside him and all of a sudden Prompto knew where the scent of decay that constantly hung to Ardyn came from.

He couldn't see. He could feel the shadows inside of him, outside of him and it was just like when the daemon had tried to possess him but also so much more. So, so much more because Ardyn was everything, Ardyn had all that rot and decay and sickness stored inside him and now it was in Prompto too. Oh Astrals it was inside him-

"Goodbye, darling. You won't be missed." And it was Ardyn, it had always been Ardyn. Ardyn was going to kill him, he'd never really been safe and-

"Get the fuck away from him!"

Noctis.

The shadows made one final push, tugging and twisting and swarming inside him. All was black.

He awoke and nothing had changed.

He was certain his eyes were open but just to double check he tried blinking. Still nothing except the inky darkness. Heart hammering he reached out around him with trembling fingers, trying to get a feel for his surroundings, where he could possibly be. There was some kind of material underneath him, something soft. He didnt feel like he was outside; there was no wind, nothing that felt like sunlight either.

His throat hurt. He felt like he'd screamed until he'd destroyed his throat entirely- a feeling he was painfully familiar with. He was exhausted, body desperately wanting to slip back into sleep even as he knew he needed to be alert. He had to know where he was, who else was here. But how? His muscles felt like lead, as though that blackness that had filled him was some impossibly heavy weight, filling his veins until he couldn't move.

Was it? He felt himself start to panic at the thought, muscles tensing. Maybe he couldn't move. Maybe he was stuck like this, immobile until Ardyn wanted to release him. His fear grew as his mind spawned more unpleasant possibilities, but panicking was using up energy he didn't have. He felt it as his body started to shut down again, forcing him back towards sleep. A.. something brushed against his forehead. It was soft, warm.. skin, maybe? A voice by his ear, unfamiliar yet soothing.

"Hush now, its not time for you yet. Sleep. All will be well when you next wake."

Who was he to argue? A soft groan left him as a wave of warmth rippled through his body, reaching every nook and cranny Ardyn's darkness had touched. If he wasn't so tired perhaps this would concern him but for now he allowed the light to carry him into a dreamless sleep.

The next time Prompto woke it was to blue.

He stared absently up at it, thinking what a pretty colour those two floating circles were. Then they blinked and Prompto's brain started to process, put together that the pretty blue things were eyes, and the eyes were attached to a face. Not any face, but Noctis' face. Noctis' face, above him.

Noctis.

Arms wrapped around his torso, pulling him up. It took Prompto several seconds to realise that he was being hugged and he raised his arms, rubbing at the back of Noctis' shirt absently in return. Noct was warm. It was nice. Prompto's brain still felt fuzzy, his muscles dully aching as if they'd been overused. Which was ridiculous because Prompto was quite sure he hadn't moved since... Well, since Ardyn.

Ardyn...

Noctis didn't pull back from the hug for a little while and Prompto didn't mind, instead taking the chance to look around. They were in a room. A nice one. It was well furnished, far bigger than the little hotel rooms they usually rented. He wondered how much this one had cost, how long they'd been staying here. Was it... was this even a hotel? A glance down revealed to him that he was on a bed and the softness he'd felt the first time he'd woken up had likely been bedsheets.

Only then did Prompto realise that there was a woman sitting on a chair a few feet away. He stared at her dumbly for a few seconds before registering that this was an actual person and it was rude to stare. He looked away, Noctis finally pulling back from the hug to instead hold Prompto at arms length, looking him over. The Prince was smiling. He liked it when Noct smiled.

"Prom.. I'm so happy to see you awake. It's been.. you've been out for almost three weeks man."

Prompto frowned at that. Three... three weeks? He shook his head, looking up at the woman again. She was blonde, hair paler than his, looked a little older than Noctis. Pretty. Smiling. "Noct, I.." He swallowed around the ache in his throat, meeting Noctis' eyes "Where are we? What... what happened?"

The woman stood up then, walking over to his bedside and perching herself on the edge of the bed. Noctis shuffled closer to the wall to make more room for her, looking back to Prompto "Prom, this is Luna. She's.. uh, I don't suppose you've ever heard of The Oracle?" Prompto shook his head and Luna smiled, taking one of his hands in her own. He was surprised at the action but didn't flinch away, finding he didn't have the energy. Being scared.. it was a lot of work.

"I am Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, the current Oracle and former Princess of Tenebrae. It's a pleasure to meet you, Prompto. Noctis has told me a great deal about you."

Prompto nodded, offering a small but genuine smile. "Yeah its ah, its nice to meet you. Sorry.. sorry about Tenebrae." He'd heard about the destruction of Tenebrae. Loqi had mentioned it once or twice, although he'd never gone into much detail. Luna's smile tightened but she nodded, keeping her hold on his hand "The past is but a tool to shape our future. More importantly Prompto, as to why you are here... Noctis told me what happened with Chancellor Izunia. You.. he left you with a rather severe case of the Starscourge."

"The.. what?" Lunafreya seemed nice, but Prompto was really struggling to grasp most of what she was saying. Her speech was so much more formal than Noctis' and -especially having just woken up from what was apparently a three week nap- he was struggling to understand what she was trying to convey.

Noctis cleared his throat then and Prompto turned his gaze to the Prince, that same kindly smile in place on Noctis' face. It made Prompto happy. That smile was so warm and genuine, it was a joy to see it on Noctis. "Prom, the Starscourge is basically... think of it as daemon disease? Little bits of it travel through the air and infect people, but Ardyn... that prick put a whole load of the stuff right inside you. So you got the Starscourge bad. Really bad."

That... didn't sound good. Prompto swallowed nervously, eyebrows drawing together as he frowned. "Is uh.. is there a cure?"

"Wha- oh Prompto, no. You've already been cured. As the Oracle it is my sacred duty to cure those afflicted with the Starscourge. I came here as soon as Noctis called me. The, ah, the Scourge entered mostly through your eyes and caused quite a bit of damage there, but we managed to heal that eventually. That's why.. you remember, when you first woke up?"

A moment of realisation and Prompto stared at Lunafreya with newfound awe, remembering when he'd first woken up. "That was you? You were there? The uh... the warm thing?"

The Oracle laughed at that, nodding. Prompto thought the sound was quite a lot like bells that chimed in the wind. Fleeting but pure. "Yes. You may not remember but you still had the bandages over your eyes then, so you would not have been able to see. And the ah, 'warm thing' as you call it, that was me healing you. A little of the Scourge was still remaining, you see."

Prompto nodded his understanding, things finally starting to fall into place. A light, pleasant breeze blew through the room and Prompto looked over to the open balcony doors, out at the sky. "Hey Noct, where are we exactly? None of our hotels have been this fancy."

Prompto could only watch as Noctis grinned, looking more alive than Prompto had ever seen him. Noctis looked so happy, so at home here. Home...

"Prompto." Hands were cupping his cheeks so all he could see was the brilliant electric blue of Noctis' eyes, the elated grin on his face. "Welcome to Insomnia. My home, Prompto. Your home."

And Prompto smiled.

The sun had set, a pleasantly warm summer breeze ruffling Prompto's hair as he walked the palace halls. His feet were bare, making no sound on the cool marble hallways he explored. He was supposed to be in bed. It was past midnight, the servants had all retired hours ago. They seemed to be a constant presence in the palace and the halls seemed particularly empty without them.

Prompto was opening doors. He'd look into rooms, so many of them bare and unused. Guest rooms mostly, kept pristine despite the lack of current visitors. He knew it was probably rude to be poking around like this, even though Noctis had assured him that he was free to go wherever he wanted. He could even leave the palace, explore the citadel.

Noctis had warned him that Insomnia was busy and Prompto had seen as much from some of the higher windows of the palace. Sometimes he just sat up there all day, watching people going about their lives below him. He'd never seen such a big city before and he wanted so badly to go out and explore it, but at the same time he knew he wasn't quite ready for that yet.

Loqi had been right, though. The skyscrapers really were like nothing he'd ever seen before.

Prompto smiled contently to himself, opening another door. He poked his head in, seeing a bed with the covers thrown back, an open book left on the bedsheets. Ah, someone was staying in here, then. Not wanting to intrude he quickly closed the door, moving onto the next room.

Their eyes met and for several seconds neither of them spoke. Gladiolus looked as shocked as Prompto felt, a half eaten sandwich held in one hand and a book resting on his knees. He was sat on his bead, was in sweats and a loose shirt, so clearly he'd just been trying to relax. Prompto immediately felt bad for intruding.

"I, uh, I'll go, s-sorry for interrupting." Prompto was already closing the door when Gladio snapped out of his shock, placing his book to the side. "Prom, wait! You can stay, I don't mind. I mean, ah, if you want to."

Prompto seriously considered just leaving anyway. In all honesty he'd been avoiding Gladio since he'd woken up, and he was sure the Shield would have noticed that by now. Despite that, during their limited interactions Gladiolus had been nothing but nice so far. A little awkward sure, but considering their history Prompto supposed that was to be expected.

So, taking a deep breath, he took a step into Gladiolus room. Then another step. And when Gladio didn't say anything he walked right over to the man's bed and sat himself on the edge of it, not taking his eyes off of the Shield for a second.

Another silence, spanning for three seconds this time - Prompto was counting. Then Gladio offered a small smile and Prompto tried his best to return in, even as just seeing Gladiolus was dragging painful memories of the past few weeks to the forefront of his mind. So, hoping to distract himself, he spoke.

"Hi."

It was just one word, but with it some of the tension buzzing between them seemed to dissipate. Gladio's smile widened and the man shifted, placing his sandwich on a plate on his bedside drawer and resting his hands in his lap.

"Hey. So I uh, I wanted to apologise for.. well everything really. But specifically about everything I said before you left. It's... I really thought you were trying to kill Noct, y'know? Sure he can be a brat sometimes, but that kid- he's my life, Prom. My whole world."

Prompto could only watch in shock as Gladiolus started to cry. The tears were silent and he didn't even try to wipe them away, letting them fall onto the sheets as he hung his head, staring down at his hands. "I know.. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven, for what I did. And no matter what my reasons are, that doesn't make it better. But I.. I miss you, Prom. I miss how we were before. I - I still do. I care about you a lot, yeah? I hate that you're so scared of me. I hate it."

The drip of wet and salty sliding down his cheeks, and Prompto realised he was crying too. He looked away, then back at Gladio, trying to think of something to say. He never had the right words, not for things like this. But Gladio looked so miserable, so defeated. It wasn't a good look on him. Prompto realised the man must have been carrying all this guilt, this grief, for days. Weeks, even.

And then Prompto did something he'd never expected of himself. He moved forwards and wrapped his arms tight around Gladio's chest, pulling the Shield into a hug. "I miss you too, big guy. And.. for what its worth, I forgive you."

Silence for a moment and then Gladio was really crying, burying his face in Prompto's hair. Gladio was hugging him too, arms wrapping around Prompto's back and he tensed up at first but then forced himself to relax. Because this was Gladiolus, and Gladiolus wasn't going to hurt him.

They stayed like that for what felt like an hour, which in reality was ten minutes. Ten minutes of hugging and tears, quite mumbles of "Thank you, Prom. Thank you so much." and "Sorry, I'm getting your shirt wet." Eventually Gladio lay down properly on the bed and Prompto found himself half lying on the Shield, finding that it wasn't nearly as scary as he'd thought such a thing would be.

He thought that maybe a little part of his brain had know all along that it hadn't really been Gladiolus hurting him. Just Ardyn, always Ardyn. It'd always be Ardyn.

"Ardyn.. he took your form. He was hurting me at night, when.. well, I guess you were asleep. For about a week, I think? He said stuff, like I'm a distraction. I'm getting in Ignis' way, and Noct's way. Your's too, I guess. Is that.. is that true? Should I leave you guys alone? Forever?"

Gladio's arms had been loosely draped around Prompto but they tightened as he spoke. He didn't look up at Gladiolus, worried what expression he'd see there.

"Ardyn deserves to fucking rot."

Well, that wasn't quite what he'd been expecting. Prompto shifted so he could meet Gladio's eyes, surprised at the intensity in the man's gaze. He seemed angry. "Seriously Prom. Don't believe anything that dick manipulated you into believing, alright? You're perfect, kid. The perfect addition to our messed up little trio. If you want to leave that's fine, but as long as you want to stay? It's a pleasure to have you around."

Prompto was crying again but this time they were happy tears. He reached up a hand to wipe at his eyes but Gladio beat him too it, using the edge of his shirt to wipe the tears away. Prompto sniffled before smiling, eyes still wet "Well. If you put it like that I guess I'll have to stick around then, won't I?" A wet laugh and Gladio chuckled in response, nodding his agreement and running an affectionate hand through Prompto's hair.

"Yeah, kid. Guess you will."

"Gladio, have you seen my - oh." Noctis stared. He hadn't expected to walk into his Shield's room to find this, but it was a pleasant sight to see nonetheless. He moved out of the doorway so Ignis could step into Gladio's room as well, to see what could only be described as progress.

"Oh my." Ignis was just as surprised as Noctis, taking a few steps closer to the bed to get a better look. Gladio was sprawled out flat on his back, pillows left forgotten on the floor. Prompto lay on the bed half beside half on top of him, his head resting on Gladio's chest. Gladiolus had one hand settled in Prompto's hair and the other slung over his back. The two were sound asleep, Gladiolus looking the most peaceful Ignis had seen him in days. The Shield hadn't talked to him about it yet, but it had been clear that Gladio held himself personally responsible for every trauma Prompto had been through at the hands of Ardyn.

It was a lovely surprise to see that Gladiolus and Prompto had -assumedly- talked. He was sure there'd be some leftover difficulties but they could work through those. Ignis had spoken to the palace therapist allowed to deal with classified material, and she'd agreed to start seeing Prompto regularly starting in a weeks time. Ignis had no doubt that proper therapy would do Prompto a world of good. He could start to integrate into society, lead a normal life.

Or... or he could stay with them, if that's what he wanted. Noctis would need to start his journey around the outskirts of Lucis all over again soon enough and, well.. he certainly wouldn't be complaining if Prompto wanted to come along.

That could wait, though. For now there were more important matters to deal with, for example Noctis, who was heading straight for Gladiolus' bed with no intentions of stopping.

"Noctis no." Noctis firmly ignored Ignis' protest, instead climbing up onto he bed. He was quick to claim the other side of Gladio's chest because the Shield really did make an excellent pillow, even nudging Prompto to the side a little so he could get a better spot. Prompto groaned in response, the none too gentle prods from Noctis rousing him from sleep. Noct only smiled mischievously as he met Prompto's eyes, settling himself into a comfy position. "Hey sunshine. Go back to sleep, I'm just joining the cuddle pile. Ignis too."

Whatever Prompto said in response was muffled into Gladio's shirt, Ignis walking to the edge of the bed to stare down at Noctis. "I will do no such thing, Noct. I shall not join this- this cuddle pile, as you call it."

Noctis had the audacity to laugh at that, rolling his eyes and directing a wicked smile up at Ignis. "Nah specs, you're joining and you know it. Come on. No point arguing when you know you're gonna give in eventually."

Ignis opened his mouth to argue only to close it, then open it again. Then with a sigh instead of a retort he lay down on the bed, turning so he was facing the so called 'cuddle pile'. Satisfied, Noctis buried his face into Gladio's shirt, and soft snoring was heard only a few minutes later. Ignis wasn't surprised; Noct was even more tired than usual as of late. They all were. It had been a long week.

That thought in mind, he allowed himself to shuffle a little closer to the other three, removing his glasses and placing them on the bedside table. Then -once he was certain that they were all asleep- Ignis moved so that he was resting against Gladiolus' side. He'd started to drift off to sleep himself when an arm moved to rest on his back, holding him close.

"G'Night Igs." Ignis sighed as he heard Gladio's sleepy mumble but didnt make an attempt to move away from the man's hand. He supposed he'd allow it, just this once.

"Goodnight, Gladio. Sleep well."

A grunt was the only response he got, and with that Ignis drifted off to sleep.

A/N: I loved this chapter so much! It was a struggle to actually sit down and start writing it, but once I had a load of fun! This is the last full length chapter, next chapter is a shorter epilogue.

Also hey if you want then check out my tumblr 'epidepi' where I cry over good bois (Prompto) and scream about my upcoming fics/plans etc. Or even my art Instagram 'ashuuki', I'm equally a mess on both


	7. Hope

7: Hope

Noctis was leaning against the railings of his balcony, staring out at the early morning shoppers and citizens starting their daily commute. He'd never been one to wake up early in the past, but ever since they'd brought Prompto to Insomnia it seemed as though there was more that was worth being awake for.

It had been six months. So much had changed, yet so little at the same time. About a month after Prompto had arrived they'd discussed the matter of where he'd like to stay. First they'd considered moving him into one of the houses in the citadel, but Prompto had taken one look at the residences closer to the palace and had immediately said no. Apparently big houses reminded him of the time he'd been living with Ardyn. "What's worse" Prompto had said, "I wouldn't know what to do with all the space." Noctis had laughed at that but agreed, understanding - if a house was too big, it stopped feeling so much like a home. That's why he'd moved into his own apartment years ago.

Gladio had briefly suggested moving Prompto out of Insomnia entirely and into one of the larger outposts, but none of them had really liked that idea. Then they'd considered one of the smaller apartments on the outskirts of the City but Ignis had insisted that those areas were too rough and wouldn't be safe enough for Prompto to live in them.

Then Prompto had suggested that perhaps he could just move permanently into one of the palace rooms and -after clearing it with King Regis- that's exactly what he'd done.

Prompto had settled in well. As soon as he'd felt comfortable venturing out into the lively City Noctis and Ignis had been quick to drag Prompto clothes shopping. They'd come back to the palace with possibly more clothes than was strictly necessary, but Noctis had been insistent on buying everything that caught Prompto's eyes. Even the particularly outlandish garments that Ignis had tried to discreetly hang back on the racks when Prompto wasn't looking.

That hadn't stopped Noctis. He'd warped every piece of clothing Ignis had silently protested against into the Ether, then warping them directly into Prompto's room. It wasn't theft because... well, because he said so.

Sometimes being the future King had its perks.

Prompto opting to stay in the Palace hadn't been that much of a surprise to anyone. The only protest had come from one of the counsellors in an official meeting. The counselor had apparently made a comment about "Letting a dirty Niff stay in the Palace". Noctis hadn't been present at the meeting but according to Ignis, King Regis had utterly destroyed the man, who proceeded to 'step down' from his position only three days later.

What had come as more of a surprise to the people was when Noctis announced that he was moving back into his old rooms in the Palace. He wanted to be there for Prompto, to help him adapt to life in the City and the complete freedom that came with it. And -although Noctis wouldn't admit it to anyone but Prompto- he was enjoying the opportunity to spend more time with his Father. They picked up their old tradition of eating dinners together again. Prompto was at every meal, smiling and laughing and finally returning to a healthy weight with three meals a day and snacks here and there. Ignis often joined in with their dinners and Gladio occasionally dropping in when he wasn't cooking for Iris. Regis tried to let Clarus go home for the evenings whenever he could, but they were still at war. Duty called. Clarus didn't seem to mind too much, because when he didn't have time to go home he ate with the rest of them at the table.

-

"So uh.. I've got something I've been meaning to ask you, Prom."

Prompto looked up from where he'd been looking through photos on his camera. Noctis had bought him the LOKTON LX-X1R three months ago and Prompto had immediately taken to photography. He took photos of everything- the city, the palace, himself. Noctis had often found himself the unwitting subject of some of Prompto's shots, which he didn't mind in the slightest. Ignis said that Prompto picking up on hobbies was a great sign that his recovery was going well. Prompto had even started some combat training with Gladio, having requested to learn some non-murdery forms of self defence. Gladio had been eager to take him up on the offer and they'd started with a casual sparring match to evaluate Prompto's skills.

Noctis and Ignis had both been there to watch and oh boy, they had not expected to watch Gladio get his ass kicked. But it had happened, and the Glaives who'd been training nearby had looked just as shocked as Gladio, Noctis and Ignis had felt.

In hindsight, they probably should have kept in mind that Prompto had been trained in combat extensively since birth.

Noctis smiled fondly at the memory, before Prompto laughed at him, grinning. "Noct, you're staring into space with a goofy smile again. Wanna tell me what's up or what?"

"Hm..? Oh yeah, sure. I was, well.. as the Prince I'm meant to rule all of Lucis, yeah? But I haven't seen all that much outside of Insomnia, especially at the outskirts of our land and stuff. So I want to do this thing where I travel around and explore everywhere, meet my people."

Prompto looked thoughtful for a moment before he frowned, setting his camera down. "So.. You're leaving? Is that what you're saying?"

Noctis quickly realised Prompto was taking this the wrong way and shook his head ""No- Well yeah. Gladio is coming as my Shield so I can blame him if I get killed and Ignis is coming because he cooks good and also I _guess_ because he's my advisor. And I was wondering if uh - I mean you don't have to but... would you like to come too?"

Prompto seemed caught off guard by that, mouth forming a little 'o' of surprise. And then he was grinning, nodding enthusiastically, and Noctis found himself returning the smile with one of his own. "Of course I want to come! It'll be like the best road-trip ever! And uh, I've missed Iggy's cooking."

Ignis ruffled Prompto's hair affectionately at that, offering the blonde a fond smile "Well I'm glad to hear _someone_ appreciates my cooking. Honestly Noct, I cannot believe you chose to order delivery last night rather than let me cook."

Noctis laughed at that, shaking his head "Your cooking is better Specs. I just wanted you to have a break."

Ignis scoffed, shooting Noct a halfhearted glare "That is complete and utter bullshit and you know it. Now come on, we must inform His Majesty of our plans to leave soon. You know Noct, he's really proud of you for going on this journey."

"Yeah." Noctis smiled, gazing out the window, thinking the sky looked remarkably blue today. "Yeah. I know."

-

It felt just like old times.

Prompto and Gladio were both sat close to the campfire, playing Kings Knight together and working to take down a particularly pesky event boss. Ignis and Noctis were cooking together, Noctis halving volunteered to help out. That had been two hours ago - whatever they were cooking either took a long time or Noctis' inexperience was slowing the whole process down.

(It was the latter)

"Dinner is served!" Prompto looked up from his phone as Noct walked over carrying two plates full of food, Ignis close behind him with another two. Prompto carefully accepted his plate as Noctis handed it to him, careful not to drop any of it. He settled it in his lap, looking up at Noctis in surprise as he realised what he'd been served.

"Is this..?"

"Yep, spicy long-bone rib steak! Just like the one you liked at home except better 'cos Iggy cooked it."

Suddenly their nine hour long search for Leiden Peppers three days ago made a lot more sense. Prompto felt the hot prickle of tears threatening to build, but he didn't want to ruin this moment by crying. So instead he smiled, overwhelmed with gratitude that Noctis had remembered the food he'd liked from _months_ ago.

"Thanks Noct. You too, Iggy. This is.. this is amazing."

Ignis took his own seat as gracefully as always, returning Prompto's smile with a smaller yet just as genuine one of his own. "Well, I wouldn't quite say all that when you haven't even tried it yet. Dig in, Prompto. It'll get cold."

Prompto couldn't remember a time he'd ever been quite this happy.

They were all laying together, staring up at the stars. Out here in the middle of nowhere the air was clear enough that lights filled the sky without a cloud in sight. Noctis and Prompto were lying on rocks that still held on to the heat they'd absorbed that day. Ignis and Gladio were right next to them on the grass, shoulders and hips and hands touching and they laid side by side.

"Guys?"

Prompto's voice was quiet, almost lost in the breeze that blew over them. It was warm but not humid, a pleasant respite after the more intense heat of the day. It was Gladio who answered Prompto's call, although he didn't move from his spot in the grass. "What's up Prom Pom?"

Quiet for a moment, because sometimes Prompto needed a little time to get his words together, to shape them into the right kind of sentence. And then; "I've been uh, talking to Joanna about it and she agrees, um…"

Noctis turned his head so he was facing Prompto as the blonde trailed off, offering him a reassuring smile "Joanna's your therapist, yeah?"

Prompto nodded in confirmation, starting to talk again "Yeah. Loqi, he.. he told me that there's this feeling where you really really like someone and you want to be with them a lot. And that ah, that I'll know when I feel it. And it's.. Joanna agrees and.. I think, I think I love you guys."

Noctis didn't miss a beat. He pulled Prompto into a tight hug almost immediately, holding him close. "I- _we_ love you too, Prom. So much."

Gladiolus was quick to join, the two boys laughing and shrieking as without warning Gladio pulled them off of the rock, hugging them both. He reached out with his free arm and pulled Ignis in, the man sighing but otherwise joining the group hug with minimal complaint.

"We all love you, Prom Pom. Don't ever forget it." Prompto could only smile from within the mass of bodies. He was surrounded and it felt _wonderful_. He felt _safe._ He thought back to what Loqi had told him all those years ago; "you'll know when someone loves you, Prompto."

This was it, he realised. This warmth, this feeling of safety. All of it, all of it was _love_. He smiled to himself, and was still smiling when hours later they all moved to the tent, Prompto excited for whatever adventures tomorrow would bring. And the next day. And the next.

Loqi.. Loqi would have been proud.

After well over a year of writing, editing and tears, this fic is finally complete! A huge huge thank you to anyone who's ever commented or dropped into my tumblr ("epidepi") or my spam Instagram ("animudealer") to say something nice, it always means the world.

Will there be more FFXV fics in the future? Probably. I have a couple fully planned and over twenty ideas for fics, although how many of those will get written is a good question.

Now that Exsomnis is finished I'm going to fully focus on "Expanse", which is a fanfic of a series called "Fae Tales", except I'm inserting an OC and taking the main cast to space because… yay, aliens?

(I seriously recommend Fae Tales by "not_poignant" it's genuinely the best thing i've ever read, and its an original work posted here on AO3! It's got many explicit scenes and dark themes though so if that's not for you, maybe hold off on that. And if you're a brave soul that'd be willing to read my work without reading the original material then mine will be mature, not explicit)

Thank you so much for reading! And look out for the next "bonus chapter", where I'm posting the full initial plot of Night Light AND Exomnis


	8. Bonus: Plot

Bonus: Plot

Hey guys! As a little bonus chapter I'm posting my very first plot drafts of Night Light and Exomnis. This is how these stories were born. So if you ever wondered what my writing process is.. well, now you know. It's literally just this mess of a Google Doc.

NIGHT LIGHT FULL INITIAL PLOT

Name: Night Light {FFXV/OT4}

(AU where Regis is alive, Noct is out exploring the world just without Prompto because he never escaped Niflheim)

\- Prom is a MT and the OT4 (Technically OT3) kind of find him (he's one of those MTs that wandered away from battle) and boom he's not trying to kill them  
\- After much arguing OT3 let him live, deciding that he can be killed by wild beasts instead

\- At Wiz Chocobo outpost, Prompto is trying to take a Chocobo  
\- Prom gets chased off, but then steals ingredients from the store  
\- In the fight a chocobo runs off, Prom is found trying to feed it the ingredients he stole, as well as eating them himself. It's night time, and he has his helmet off.  
\- He turns and is trying to hide his face from them, but out of nowhere a sabertusk jumps out, trying to bite at the Chocobo. Prompto throws himself in the way and gets bitten instead, letting out a very human scream of pain as his exposed arm (He's taken his gloves off, so he can eat food) is bitten into  
\- Noct freaks the fuck out because he realises he's a human  
\- They hide him at a nearby haven deciding it isn't safe to keep him in the outpost  
\- Prom seems to be getting on pretty fine, but has random violent outbursts?

\- He takes his mask off to eat in the morning, and his skin starts burning immediately  
\- DO A VAMPIRE JOKE  
\- He begins throwing up daemon blood, expelling it from his body  
\- One morning he goes to throw up and the mask is off to puke, Noct notices that he's outside without his mask on, realises it must be his body working out the daemon blood when it's gone he won't burn

\- After a few more days Prom goes outside without the armour, and he's weak but fine  
\- He starts becoming a part of the group, they go on hunts to earn Gil etc  
\- Happiness  
\- Chocobro kisses and huggies  
\- Prom feels awful because Ignis gets hurt and it's 'his fault' and goes off into the desert /to cry/ and get away  
\- They don't even realise he's ran off, too busy infighting, until they hear him screaming  
\- Prom has his gun but fighting the group of sabertusk at close range is hard, they've pinned him and the guns gone flying, and he's being attacked. He almost dies, and they have to rush him to a hospital  
\- Turns out he's in much worse condition than he's been letting on: the doctor reveals how he's had internal bleeding for about a week now, and that it's a good job they took him to a hospital, because otherwise his heart would have likely grown unstable causing a heart attack, or his lungs would flood with blood. Possibly both.  
\- He undergoes major surgery, and after Noct explains that Prompto is an MT they get an ex-imperial soldier to operate on him, the man supposedly fixing everything that was wrong. When the group ask who he is, he simply says he's a 'man of no consequence' with a tip of his fedora.  
\- (Ardyn puts a low concentration of daemon blood in. Prom comments he feels uncomfortable when he goes outside next, and his skin is sunburn at the end of the day, despite the weather being mild. This blood is enough to make him react badly to Magitek generators, but not enough to make him die in sun)  
\- They get an uneasy vibe from Ardyn, but trust what he did, seeing as Prompto seems completely fine.  
\- The man says he had to put a little demon blood in Prompto, to strengthen him. So he has to keep his armour on for a few days, or he'll burn up outside?  
\- Soon after, Noct gifts Prompto a gun. Prompto tears up and and Noctis thinks it's over the fact that they've trusted him with a weapon -which it is, in part- but Prompto says it's because he's never received a gift before.  
\- Prom's happy and feels accepted, until they go to Hammerhead.  
\- They're exhausted, ready to sleep in an actual bed  
\- Cid freaks out and tries to shoot Prom because of his red eyes, and ends up threatening everyone  
\- They get pretty much kicked out of Hammerhead and have to stay in the nearby haven

\- Things are going great and everyone's happy, Prompto ignoring the black daemon blood he'd still feel rising in his throat every once in a while, the blonde going for a 'pee break' to throw his guts up, only to force a smile and pretend like nothing happened. He didn't want to worry then, he didn't want to be a burden. He refused to be.

\- The Empire send a huge machine at Noct and the gang, and as revenge Prompto sneaks Noct and gang into imperial base under the premise he's 'captured' them, to destroy the base. He agrees to do it because there's no generator in there: it's a fairly new base.

\- they continue travelling. While they're in an outlier region a truck with a Magitek generator in it drives by , causing Prompto to snap and try to kill Noct. Gladiolus gets angry and chokes him nearly killing him, until Noct forces him off. Gladiolus yells that prompto's a traitor/Spy/the enemy etc. He goes to go into the camp to go to bed like always but Gladio forces him out, taking his gun and saying 'mutts of the empire can sleep out in the dirt where they belong' Prom does as hes told and goes outside, curling up on the floor. The three can't sleep, listening to the sound of muffled crying and small whimpers from Prom.

\- 'Noctis felt his gut wrench and his heart twist at the pathetic noises, wanting nothing more than to go outside and comfort the boy he'd been so close to calling his friend. The sounds continued in the silence of the night, and they were almost enough to make even Gladio feel bad.  
\- Almost.

\- When they wake in the morning Prompto is gone, and none are all too surprised. Noctis is worried but Ignis says he'll come back, he just need his own space. Gladiolus says he hopes Prompto never comes back, and Noctis yells at him, asking him if he ever thought about what proms feeling or has been through. He spent so long building up even a bit of self confidence, of thinking he's human, and you just tear it all down over something he can't control!?

\- Noct's heart drops as he finds a note from Prompto, saying that he's sorry for being a burden to them and that he's going back to Niflheim where he belongs. 'I'm just a defect, I don't deserve you. I'm sorry' signed - {his code/model name}

\- Ardyn is waiting for Prom in Niflheim, and he captures him and slowly breaks him down, taking him apart to unleash the dark daemon side. Turns out that Ardyn put a experimental specially built Magitek Crystal inside Prompt during the surgery? the point of which is it reacts to Magitek generators without the need for daemon blood, the same thing that caused him to lash out at Noct. Ardyn uses his person changing thingy to pretend he's Gladio or Ignis (he tried Noct at first, but he can't seem to impersonate him just right, and despite how shattered Promptos mind is, he can never seem to convince him that he's the real prince) to see if Prompto will kill them when near a crystal. He doesn't.

\- Prompto didn't know when he started hoping Noctis was coming to save him. Why would he; he was just an MT, after all. A mutt of th Empire as Gladio put it. But, for whoever reason he started dreaming, dreaming that Noct would walk through that door and lift him up and carry him off to safety. The thoughts persistently stayed, until they turned into hopes and desperate pleading with the astrals that his half coherent dreams would come true, and he found his thoughts constantly on the three men he hoped would be his saviours.

\- "what do you want with me!?" "My dear boy, I want nothing more with you than to see you break"

\- He plays tricks with his mind, pretneding to be nocti ignis and Gladio, until Prom seems completely broken down. Ardyn notes it's interesting that he can only fool Prompto into thinking he's Gladio's or Ignis, while Prom always knows he's fake if Its Noct hurting him. However he focus on his friends and on the hope that they're coming to get him, despite Ardyn's promises they're not.

\- Ardyn taunts him over the fact that his blood was inside Prompto for the healing process. Bets he didn't even notice, because "behind all the sunshine you're a daemon inside too". 'Bet you never thought you'd have me inside you again, hm? Guess you were wrong" Prompto knows it's a stupid taunt, a low blow, something he shouldn't be affected by.. but he cries anyway, a barrage of unwanted memories eager to make their presence known at Ardyn's words.  
\- When Prompto was in the Empire before, he was ardyns toy. He was doomed a failure, a defect, an experiment to create human- like MTs for reconnaissance purposes. An experiment that went wrong, so he was given to Ardyn. One day Prompto tries to escape, and Ardyn is pissed. Prompto starts ranting about how it's not fair for them to try and kill the Prince of Lucis -he's heard about Noctis, because the officers talk freely of their plans in the training camps- and how why can't they just let him live his life!? He's done nothing wrong! This touches a nerve with Ardyn, who hisses 'boy.. don't talk about things you know nothing about' Prompto is scared but persists, and calls Ardyn a monster for what he's doing. Ardyn is pissed "A monster? fine, you know what? We'll send you off on an airship, with all the other MTs. Your special treatment is over, little one: you're getting on that airship, it's dropping you off to wherever the Prince and his little friends are, galavanting around Lucis as if they actually care.. and then, when they cut you down like all the other Magitek Troopers? Then you can see just who the real monster is here"

\- Ardyn eventually has to leave [to launch the attack on Insomnia] and says it's a disappointment that Prompto didn't break, and he's sad that he can't take him to go witness the destruction of 'your beloved insomnia', but says there's only room in the Imperial Aircrafts for real MT's, not defects. Prompto spits that he'd take being a defect any day over becoming a mutt of the Empire. I'll never be some dog of the empire! Ardyn laughs saying "oh my dear [code name], you already are~' and leaves. Prompto assumes this is another one of Ardyn's tricks, and that the man will come back eventually.

\- Ardyn is not coming back, and Prompto is dying of starvation, thirst, and injuries that are far beyond healing.  
\- Prompto feels sick as he realises: Ardyn might really let him die. He's sent him off to die before, by the hands of the Prince. He clearly doesn't want him alive anymore. So... what reason does he have not to let him die? He's just a toy that isn't fun anymore, being discarded.

\- Why does he always get thrown away?

\- Prompto dies in the cell. After all the torture, is he really going to die from mere neglect?, and Noct carries him off into the 'white light of heaven', because he died by the hand of the Empire. Have this and make them think it's a happy ending  
because I'm a terrible, terrible person

\- then have the next chapter where it's a newspaper article or service about how Noct was killed, (car bomb?) on the way to Niflheim. Reasons why he was going to Niflheim was unknown.

\- Regis is dead from grief of losing son and it's the Insomnian citizens (crowns guard?) accepting their fates as the Empire's warships loom above Insomnia, ready to rain both fire and darkness down on the once city of light. Without its Prince and king, a city doomed to fall.  
(Have this be Nyx reading the paper, as the Empire ships rain above them, grasping for just a shred of normality before the world changed forever)

Luna being forced to watch from an empire ship, ring of Lucis in hand? Use this to elaborate on 'how your precious husband' died

ALT ENDING

\- driven by his fury Regis launched an assault and took over Niflheim . Found the MT who was reported to be travelling with the Prince weeks prior, dead in a cell. No sign of chancellor Izunia.

OR

Story ends as Noct shows up, Lucis having taken Niflheim by storm just to get Prompto back (and win the war, but this was the main reason for their attack) Noct scoops Prom up in his arms and Prom asks where they're going, and Noct says 'home'

EXSOMNIS INITIAL PLAN

Title ideas: 'Night Light' in Latin, or 'awake' in Latin? Maybe 'forever awake'? (If not, have that as the title of the final chapter)  
\- post it as a part of a series, as part 2?

Aeturnum vigilax  
Aevita vigila  
Exsomnis  
Aeturnum exsomnis  
Iam exsomnis  
Nox lumen

-

Plot: the Bois rescue prom from Ardyn early. Prom is slowly recovering, high key ptsd and trust issues. One night Gladio starts abusing him, telling him he's worthless etc, but it's actually Ardyn in disguise. They figure this out and Ardyn taunts them a bit, humiliating prompto. Noctis warns Ardyn to never come near prompto again, and Ardyn laughs, saying that Noctis has gotten attached. Says he hopes Noct has fun with his toy, then leaves.

THE BOYS DONT KNOW ARDYN WAS TAKING GLADIOS FORM. PROM IS EXTRA JUMPY AND COLD AROUND GLADIO AND THATS COS HES TRAUMATISED AFTER ARDYN, BUT THE BOYS DONT KNOW THIS AND THINK PROM IS JUST ANGRY ABOUT BEFORE.

Prom is really shaken up. (Either gap between here and next scene, or this is a continuation from last scene)

Yo so this happens at the end:

They rent out some chocobos for the day to do some side quests, and Prom seems happy for a bit. But when they're at camp the blonde opts to stay with the birds, won't even sleep in the tent with the boys anymore. Gladio asks why, and Prompto kind of gives him a cold look 'dogs of the empire sleep on the floor where they belong, remember?'

Next chapter starts with prom being super extra jumpy around Gladio. And then we get him alone in the tent, thinking back to what happened last night - Gladio abused him.

Ignis gives Gladio a look from where he's cooking, and says a simple 'you deserved that' before continuing to stir. Gladio reasons that yeah, he did. Buys prom a gift at an outpost and tells him that while he knows it isn't much, he feels really bad about what he said, and he didn't mean any of it. He thought Prom was genuinely trying to kill noct, and he was just trying to do his best. Prom says that he forgives him, knows he's a good person at heart. Reasons that maybe the reason he still can't help but be scared of Gladio is because Ardyn took his form to hurt him. At this point he's crying. Gladio is upset 'oh Prom..' he mumbled, and opens his arms for the blonde. They hug, prom crying into Gladio chest.

Prom accepts his apology, and they hug it out. Iggy and noct come back to prom sleeping on Gladio, who's also sleeping.

They are running low on money, and need to go on a hunt. Noct suggests he and Prom stay at camp, saying that prom should b in battle right now. Prom feels bad that he's holding back the group and insists he's fine and can go. Os they begrudgingly let him go. On he hunt the monster is coming for prom but he's completely out of it. He almost gets killed, and Gladio saves him. Yells at him to 'wake up, Prompto!' Before killing the monster.

They're walking back and prom is walking in the back with Noctis (note that Gladio doesn't make prom walk in front) and the two talk. Noct assures prom that Gladio didn't mean to shout, he isn't angry -because Prom is shaking, and voicing his worries that he really isn't good enough for the group, that he's still the enemy- and that Gladio wouldn't shout if he didn't care.

When they get back to camp Iggy Cooks prom his favourite meal -I believe you said you liked this before, yes? Group hug, with prompto recapping that he remembered Master - Loqi- explaining to him what love was. "I-I think.i love you guys." And they hug him and tell them they love him too, and will always protect him. Ot4. End with them saying they're going to go back to insomnia. "Let's go home."

That's all, folks! As you can see the whole thing with Ardyn in Night Light was meant to be quite a bit darker than it was, and there was going to be more physical torture. I decided to focus on the emotional manipulation instead because I believe its harder hitting on both the reader and the character's development. Also, Ardyn capturing Prompto and impersonating Noctis/Gladio/Ignis while torturing him is pretty overdone, and I'm not actually sure if the Prompto in my AU would have actually been capable of recovering from that?

And uh the Exsomnis plan was a bit of a mess, I chopped around the order of events a lot because the plan in my head ended up quite different to the plan I had written down. I didn't want to rush Prompto's recovery because that shit takes time and I wanted to respect that.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. See you next project! 3


End file.
